How to Live Well with COPD

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Ridgecrest Daily Independent - Ridgecrest, CA

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Posted Feb. 5, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Aug 5, 2013 at 2:11 AM

Posted Feb. 5, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Aug 5, 2013 at 2:11 AM

John W. Walsh was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at age 40, yet he was determined not to let it slow him down. In 2004, he established the COPD Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the everyday lives of people with COPD through research, education and outreach.
ďCOPD is mostly preventable, itís almost always treatable and someday curable,Ē says Walsh, now 63. ďThereís a lot of hope for the future for people with COPD.Ē
Walsh, of Coconut Grove, Fla., shared his advice with American Profile on living well with the chronic condition.
Learn more about living with COPD here.American Profile: Given your personal experience with the condition, what are some of your best tips for living with COPD?John Walsh: I think first, take care of yourself. Donít give up. Make certain that you maintain the regimen of medications that your doctor prescribes. Adherence is so important for someone with COPD to reduce the symptoms, which ultimately helps to reduce the exacerbations, the lung infections, and the lung flare-ups that we get. During flu season, you also want to avoid people who are sick. Everybody wants to avoid somebody sneezing in their face or germs being passed on. But if you have COPD, you definitely want to avoid those exposures. If something makes you cough, you definitely donít want to be exposed to it.
AP: Why is it so important to avoid infection and generally manage the condition?JW: One of the big challenges we have is that, if somebody stopped smoking 10 years ago, they automatically think they arenít going to develop COPD, and thatís not the case. Itís like starting a fire, and once you start that cooking process, youíve got damaged tissue and you become more susceptible to more damaged tissue. So itís really important to control the inflammation, which can be done with the therapies that are already available. And itís very important to aggressively treat any infection or exacerbation or lung flare-up that you might have.
If you can teach somebody with COPD to identify an infection coming on early, where they can feel the additional increased difficulty breathing, they can feel the nasal cold actually go into their lungs, and immediately address that, whether itís with an antibiotic or another medication that a doctor might prescribe. That will decrease the length of exacerbations, the number of exacerbations and hospitalizations. But most importantly it improves quality of life, and thatís simply by educating an individual with COPD on how to identify the fact that theyíre getting sick.
AP: What role should exercise play in living with COPD?JW: Exercise is one of the most obvious things you can do, and it doesnít have to be vigorous. I walk 5 miles before I get to the office in the morning, and when Iím on the road, Iím on the treadmill in the morning. Itís really critical to keep active. With COPD, when youíre sick and not able to keep active, then you become less active. And thatís just kind of a roller coaster that you end up on. A lot of people end up putting some weight on and then they do less because they donít feel good.
AP: Do you find that people are afraid to exercise when they have this condition?JW: Yes, when my twin brother and I were originally diagnosed, thatís one of the top questions we had. And back then, in 1989, they said you really have to be careful and not exercise too much because youíll enlarge the right side of your heart. But thatís for people that are really progressed. Now, if you get into a pulmonary rehabilitation program, you learn your level of exercise tolerances and how intense you can be in your exercise regimen. But simple things like walking and just moving your armsóbasic exerciseócan really improve somebodyís quality of life.
AP: What are the advantages to diagnosing COPD as early as possible?JW: You can get on medications to treat the symptoms that will essentially slow progression and allow you to live a normal life. A lot of people get the diagnosis of COPD and think, ďThereís nothing I can do about it.Ē Well, there is something you can do about it. You can reduce the symptoms through medications that are currently available, based on your doctorís prescription, and you can stay active.
Brought to you by: American Profile - Inspirational Stories & American History